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Tag: mobile os

  • Android Now On 81% of New Smartphones

    Android Now On 81% of New Smartphones

    Though Apple’s iPhone continues to be the most sought-after mobile device in developed markets, Google’s Android platform now firmly dominates smartphone market share. Market research firm IDC today revealed its estimates that 81% of smartphones shipped during the third quarter of 2013 were running Android.

    This amounts to more than 170 million of the estimates 211.6 million smartphones that IDC believes shipped during the last quarter. Overall, smartphone shipments increased nearly 40% from the third quarter of 2012, despite analyst predictions that established smartphone markets are becoming saturated.

    Apple’s iOS platform is still firmly in second place, despite losing a bit of market share during the third quarter, down to 12.9% from 14.4% last year. This small decline is largely due to the massive 51.3% increase in Android shipment volumes year-over-year. Apple also increased its shipment volumes by just over 25%.

    Windows Phone is also becoming a viable third contender in the smartphone space. It more than doubled its year-over-year shipments during the third quarter, raising 156% to 9.5 million Windows Phones shipped.

    All of these shipment increases were aided by the massive failure of BlackBerry. The Canadian manufacturer posted nearly $1 billion in losses during the second quarter, and even more recently a consortium of investors failed to raise the cash to buy BlackBerry. IDC’s numbers reflect these difficulties, showing a massive 41.6% year-over-year drop in shipment volume.

    “Android and Windows Phone continued to make significant strides in the third quarter,” said Ramon Llamas, research manager for Mobile at IDC. “Despite their differences in market share, they both have one important factor behind their success: price. Both platforms have a selection of devices available at prices low enough to be affordable to the mass market, and it is the mass market that is driving the entire market forward.”

  • U.S. Smartphone Penetration Hits 64%, Young People Lead the Way

    The modern smartphone market is now six years old. As the technology improves, analysts are predicting that smartphone markets in the U.S. and Europe will soon reach saturation points, with emerging markets such as Brazil and China leading smartphone growth in the coming years. This week, Nielsen released new research providing some clear evidence for these assumptions.

    The new Nielsen report shows that 64% of U.S. mobile phone owners own a smartphone. In addition, 80% of Americans who had recently bought a mobile phone (within the past three months) bought a smartphone.

    Nielsen smartphone os graph

    Nielsen also broke its data down by OS and demographics. Of those recent mobile purchasers, over 90% of them bought either an Android or iOS smartphone, with 61% choosing an Android device. Over half of U.S. smartphones now run Android, while 40% are still iPhones.

    It also seems from the report that age is a large factor in smartphone adoption. Half of the Americans still using feature phones are over the age of 55. Twenty-somethings are the leading smartphone users in the U.S., with a full 81% of Americans aged 25 to 34 using the devices. Teens aren’t far behind, with almost 70% of those aged 13 to 17 already using a smartphone.

    (Image courtesy T-Mobile; Illustration courtesy Nielsen)

  • CyanogenMod Company Founded, $7 Million Raised

    Android currently dominates the smartphone landscape. The mobile OS is now on nearly 80% of smartphones worldwide. Google achieved this feat by making Android free and open, allowing manufacturers to use it without paying exorbitant OEM fees.

    However, the openness of the platform also leaves it open to abuse from manufacturers, who often ship hardware with their own software running on top of Android, for better or worse. Such software may not be exactly what manufacturers want, however, as Apple’s vertical product integration and closed platform are still the envy of the industry. Rumors of competing mobile platforms, such as Samsung’s Tizen, have been circulating for the past year or so.

    But the future of mobile computing does not look closed. Open mobile platforms such as Firefox OS and Ubuntu are currently being developed, and ROMs even more open than stock Android are popular in tech circles. Now, one of the most popular Android ROMs has gone legit.

    CyanogenMod this week announced that it has become an official company. It kicked off its ventured by receiving $7 million from Benchmark Capital and Redpoint Ventures.

    Though the organization is now more organized, the goals of the CyanogenMod product have not changed drastically. In a blog post, CyanogenMod founder Steve Kondik stated that the company will still organize and lead the modding community surrounding the CyanogenMod ROM. The will continue to improve the mobile experience with better features while paring away the junk software manufacturers often include. Kondik also stated that security solutions “that really work” are another focus of the project.

    Kondik stated that the things that will change will be for the better. From the blog post:

    What will change is our capabilities, our speed, and our size. I’m not one to let anything stagnate. The next logical steps for CM were out of reach previously, and the path forward is clear now. I hope you feel the same.

    The first project the company has tackled is making it easier to install a CyanogenMod ROM. To that end, an installer for the software will be available on the Google Play store “in the coming weeks.”

  • Windows Phone Could Become a Closed Platform [RUMOR]

    Microsoft decided not to take the long holiday weekend off, ironing out a deal to buy Nokia’s devices and services division for upwards of $5 billion. The acquisition makes sense due to the tight relationship the two companies have had over the Windows Phone 8 platform during the past two years. Though smartphone manufacturers such as Samsung and HTC have released Windows Phone 8 smartphones over the past year, Nokia has consistently dominated Windows Phone sales with its lineup of Lumia smartphones.

    The acquisition also fits perfectly into Microsoft’s recent narrative of transition to a devices and services company. Now that Microsoft has its very own mobile hardware company, speculation is centering on the future of the Windows Phone 8 OS itself.

    DigiTimes today reported that the Windows Phone OS is “likely” to become a closed platform, used only by Microsoft itself. The report cites unnamed “industry sources” as saying smartphone manufacturers will shy away from the OS to avoid competing with Microsoft on its own turf.

    The report speculates that this shift will mean an even greater dependence on Android by smartphone manufacturers. In addition, the move could mean a greater focus on the development of competing smartphone operating systems, such as Firefox OS or the Samsung-led Tizen project.

    (via DigiTimes)

  • HTC Reportedly Developing a Mobile OS For China

    HTC is in a bad way. After sales of its HTC One smartphone failed to compete with iPhone and Galaxy S4 sales, the company released dismal financial results for its latest quarters. As rumors of a buyout begin to circle the company, even Beats Electronics is trying to buy a portion of itself back from the struggling manufacturer. It remains to be seen whether an ambitious and strange marketing campaign starring Robert Downey, Jr. will be able to help HTC compete in the high-end smartphone segment.

    Now, rumors have surfaced that HTC is attempting to break away from Android and offer a competitor to the current smartphone operating system duopoly – at least in China. The Wall Street Journal today reported that HTC is developing a mobile OS. The report cites unnamed “people familiar with the project” as saying the software is being specifically developed for the Chinese smartphone market.

    HTC has reportedly been consulting with the Chinese government on the project. The new OS is rumored by the Journal to be heavily integrated with popular chinese apps such as Weibo.

    The project could signal a shift in strategy at HTC, which has lost a large amount of Android smartphone global market share over the past two years. A strategy focusing on China is in line with analyst predictions that the low- and mid-priced smartphone markets will be the major growth sectors for the smartphone industry in the coming years, particularly in countries such as Brazil, India, and China.

    (via The Wall Street Journal)

    (Image courtesy HTC)

  • The Ubuntu Smartphone Launches In October

    The Ubuntu Smartphone Launches In October

    2013 is the year of the truly open smartphone. Android kind of fits the bill, but some OEMs lock down their devices. Instead, this year will see the launch of two truly open mobile platforms – Firefox OS and Ubuntu.

    While we don’t know when Firefox OS will launch, but the Wall Street Journal reports that Canonical will launch the Ubuntu smartphone in October. Canonical says that it will launch the new smartphone in two geographic areas at that time. It’s unknown at this point if the U.S. is one of those launch markets so hardcore Linux fans may not want to get their hopes up.

    Leading up to the October launch, Canonical has to make sure developers are on board building apps for the new mobile Ubuntu platform. To that end, the OS will be going out to developers in late February. The WSJ report says that the current developer OS is optimized for the Galaxy Nexus hardware.

    There may be concern among developers, however, that building applications for an untested platform would not be a wise decision. That’s where the real magic of Ubuntu mobile comes in. Canonical says that any application built for Ubuntu will work across both desktop and mobile. Even if Ubuntu smartphones don’t immediately take off, developers still might earn a following on desktop.

    Of course, it doesn’t look like Ubuntu will have any trouble finding acceptance among carriers at least. Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth told the WSJ that carriers are liking what they’re seeing from Ubuntu smartphones.

    All of this leads up to a potential growth spurt for Linux adoption. Desktop Linux is getting more and more support everyday from major players like Valve and maybe even Microsoft. The addition of a mobile ecosystem that shares applications between itself and its desktop counterpart is all kinds of genius. It may just be what Ubuntu, and Linux, needs to become a mainstream player in personal computing.

  • Here’s Your First Look At The Firefox OS Developer Preview Phones

    Developers have been able to build apps for Firefox OS for a while now. The only caveat was that they had to build apps within a simulator as the hardware wasn’t available yet. That all changes soon as Mozilla has announced the first hardware being built with Firefox OS in mind.

    Mozilla announced this morning that it’s building two Firefox OS Developer Preview phones for those who want something a little more concrete to work with as we move towards the official launch of Mozilla’s mobile operating system. The hardware is being developed in a joint partnership between Geeksphone and Telefonica.

    Here’s what you can expect from the first Firefox OS hardware – Keon:

  • CPU Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 1Ghz
  • UMTS 2100/1900/900 (3G HSPA)
  • GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (2G EDGE)
  • Screen 3.5″ HVGA Multitouch
  • 3 MP Camera
  • 4GB ROM, 512 MB RAM
  • MicroSD, Wifi N, Light and proxmity Sensor, G-Sensor, GPS, MicroUSB
  • 1580 mAh battery
  • Over the air updates
  • Unlocked, add your own SIM card

    • If you need something with a little more power, you might want to go with the Peak instead:

  • CPU Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 1.2Ghz x2
  • UMTS 2100/1900/900 (3G HSPA)
  • GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (2G EDGE)
  • Screen 4.3″ qHD IPS Multitouch
  • Camera 8 MP (back) + 2 MP (front)
  • 4 GB ROM, 512 RAM
  • MicroSD, Wifi N, Light & Prox. Sensor, G-Sensor, GPS, MicroUSB, Flash (camera)
  • Battery 1800 mAh

    • The hardware in either phone isn’t going to blow anybody away, but that’s the point. Firefox OS is being primarily marketed to emerging markets. As such, the phones have entry to mid-level specs so that it’s affordable to the millions of people who have yet to buy a smartphone.

    Mozilla is betting on those millions of people to make Firefox OS their first smartphone experience, but it first needs the apps and developer support that will make any new hardware successful. That’s why the non-profit is hosting a number of Firefox OS App Days over the next week all over the world. These events will give developers a chance to work with the folks from Mozilla on some of the more interesting and challenging aspects of Firefox OS. Check here for a list of the locations and dates.

    Building apps is nice, but when will developers be able to actually get their hands on the hardware? Mozilla ays sometime in February though it hasn’t listed a price or exact date yet. You might want to check here every few days for the latest information. We’ll also let you know when the phone becomes available for pre-order.

  • Mozilla Invests In Everything.me For The Future Of Firefox OS

    The open Web is something that’s near and dear to the heart of Mozilla. The company has invested a lot of time and money into its own HTML5 development, but it’s also investing in other companies that align with its mission statement.

    Mozilla announced today that it has invested in Everything.me, developers of a HTML5-based dynamic mobile app platform. It joins other companies like Telefónica and SingTel Innov8 in contributing $25 million in a round of series C funding. Mozilla’s investment is particularly interesting as Everything.me will be integrating its app platform into Firefox OS.

    “Everything.me was started to harness the power of HTML5 and the openness of the web to disrupt the mobile industry,” said Rami Kasterstein, CEO and Co-Founder, Everything.me. “We see this investment as evidence of the capabilities of fully-mobile web apps, which Everything.me provides to users at their fingertips, on demand. We are excited to be working with our new partners Telefónica, SingTel and Mozilla, who are driving innovation for consumers.”

    Everything.me is pretty unique in that it “adapts to users’ needs by changing the apps on screen to match the content and services the user needs at any point in time.” It does this through a HTML5-based cloud delivery platform that brings up apps on the fly. It’s obvious then why Firefox is so interested in bringing it to its own HTML5-based Firefox OS.

    “Everything.me is aligned closely with Mozilla’s mission and goals,” said Jay Sullivan, VP, Products, Mozilla. “Like us, they are committed to using the power of the web to bring the mobile app experience to consumers, regardless of the platform, OS or browser used. We are excited to be working closely together to further the abilities of the HTML5, and to create an outstanding content experience on the Firefox OS.”

    Mozilla says that Firefox OS is still on track to launch in 2013, and this doesn’t change that. The non-profit will, however, share more details on how its integrating Everything.me into the core Firefox experience at a later date.

  • The Top 20 Mobile Phones in the US

    The Top 20 Mobile Phones in the US

    Millennial Media has released its monthly Mobile Mix report, focusing specifically on various mobile devices and OS’s, and listing the Top 20 Mobile Phones in the U.S.  "Mobile Mix measures device, OS, carrier,  and now application trending data on our network. New to Mobile Mix this month, is a snapshot of the most active mobile app channels; and a quick view of the break-out of multi-platform app versus single platform app developers," Mack McKelvey, SVP of Marketing at Millennial Media tells WebProNews.

    "On the single-platform size, the largest app channel growth we’ve seen so far this year is in the entertainment and sports channels, with 648% and 279% growth respectively, since January 2010," McKelvey added. "Social networking and gaming have also seen strong growth and took the top two spots in the channel ranking, by revenue, this month."

    Millennial Media Top 20 Devices

    Some other highlights from the report include:

    – Android requests grew 15% month-over-month, and have now grown 338% since January.

    – The Apple OS remained the leading operating system on the Millennial network, but it had a month-over-month decrease of nearly 14%

    – iPad requests grew 160% month-over-month

    – For individual manufacturers, HTC received the largest share increase month-over month for the second consecutive month

    – The Games category topped the list of top mobile app channels by revenue

    There is plenty more device and carrier data about the top manufacturers, the top mobile phones, device input mix, carrier mix, OS mix, developer trends, and more. Find it here.